I almost didn’t share this recipe, it seemed too easy. But then I remembered that people like easy, simple recipes that can be whipped up in a few minutes. The first time I made these brownies, it was after work to bring to a church group meeting I had to leave for in about an hour and a half. In less than 90 minutes I had homemade, from scratch brownies cut and ready to go!

This brownie recipe is my absolute favorite and is so versatile. It’s dressed up for Christmas with a little peppermint extract and crushed candy canes on top. Cut into small pieces it makes a for a delightful hostess gift of shared treat. The holidays feature so many desserts, it’s best to provide everyone with small bites!

I brought these to Andrea’s lovely holiday party and a guest asked me if they were soft. Two questions – where does one find non-soft brownies? Who would bring hard brownies to a party? Clearly my sarcasm could not be contained! These brownies are deliciously soft, moist, fudgy, peppermint-y, and easy. Whip up a batch now, anyone can do it!

Preheat the oven to 325 ˚F. Grease an 8” x 8” square pan and line with parchment paper leaving an overhang. Grease that too.

In a medium saucepan melt the butter, sugar, water, and instant coffee. When melted add in the chocolate chips and stir until combined and melted. Add in the eggs one at a time and then the peppermint extract, stir to combine. Add in the flour, soda, and salt mixing until just combined.

Pour the brownie batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes, press them in slightly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is shiny and crusty and a toothpick comes out almost clean. DO NOT OVER BAKE!

Let cool slightly and then slice and serve. For bites, I remove the whole brownie from the pan and cut into 9 large pieces. Then, I cut each ninth into 4, placing in a mini cupcake wrapper for maximum cuteness.

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I love eggnog, absolutely and completely! Almost every Christmas season I try to make the most eggnog-y of eggnog treats and always end up disappointed. It’s not that the recipes aren’t tasty, because they are, they are just not eggnog-y enough. I’m not ashamed to admit I can drink eggnog straight up! Obviously I try to limit the indulgence, but that doesn’t stop the cravings.

This is a delightfully eggnog-y recipe! I’m sure the original recipe had enough eggnog flavor for the average person, but I wanted to ensure there was plenty of eggnog flavor for me. I used all the tricks I could think of like adding rum extract (obviously rum is essential in eggnog!) and extra fresh nutmeg; the results are super!

The base is crumbly and moist while the middle is lovingly smooth and creamy. A crumb topping on top is perfect for providing a little crunch and texture. Throughout the filling and crust there is significant proportion of fresh nutmeg and eggnog flavor. These eggnog cheesecake bars are my favorite thing on the cookie tray this year!

Crust – Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F and grease an 8×8” pan with shortening. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease the paper as well.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and incorporate into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. Blend until you have pea-sized pieces.

Stir in the eggnog with a fork until the dough is shaggy. Squeeze a bit with your hands to incorporate the loose flour.

Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan as evenly as possible. Set aside.

Filling – In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, one at a time, beating to incorporate each. Scrape the bowl as needed.

Pour the filling over the crust. Use the remaining dough to make crumbles on top of the filling.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling no longer jiggles and the topping just begins to brown.

Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate to firm up before cutting and serving

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Shortbread cookies are apparently my jam for late 2015, they are so easy and fun to roll out. There is no need to worry about spreading either because of the lack of baking powder and soda. The dough rolls out smoothly and the delicate flavor of the plain shortbread lends itself to anything your heart images.

In addition to my love of shortbread, I’ve been loving on cranberries! In fact, I’m sipping on a delightful cranberry mimosa right now! Totally in the Christmas spirit! Cranberries and oranges (or in this case, tangerines) are a perfect match of sweet and sour; both are plentiful and in season. It’s nice to have a fruity component to the Christmas cookie tray.

When I was thinking of cookies for my holiday tray, I wanted representation from all the flavors of the season. Peppermint, ginger, cranberry, vanilla, nutty, and eggnog all needed to be included, and they are! There is also a variety of textures like crunchy, creamy, and tender. Tangerine cranberry shortbread cookies take care of the cranberry and crunchy categories and are perfect for your non-chocolate loving friends. A delightful addition to my Christmas plate!

Cookies – In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment beat the butter until creamy. Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low until just combined. Beat in the vanilla and zest. Scrape down the bowl.

Sift the flour and salt into the butter and mix until just barely incorporated. Finely chop the cranberries and add those to mixer. Gently fold in.

Knead the dough slightly so it comes together and then wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

I wanted thinner cookies, so I rolled the dough on a well floured surface to 1/8” thickness and used a 2” round cutter to make disks. These baked for 8 minutes. If you want thicker cookies, they will bake a bit longer.

Cookies should barely brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Glaze – Whisk together the tangerine juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Feel free to add more/less powdered sugar for a thicker or thinner glaze.

Drizzle the glaze over each cookie and allow to dry fully before packaging.

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Here are some lazy-lady Christmas sugar cookies. Gone are the days when I would take a day off of work to decorate cookies with royal icing; this was after already making, rolling, and baking the cookies! Decorated sugar cookies are gorgeous and I just wish I had the time/energy to devote to the process, but I don’t.

Enter this sprinkle cookie, possibly the next best thing! Make the dough, add a ton of sprinkles, roll/cut, and bake. You’re done. The cookies aren’t too sweet and take a fraction of the time. Sprinkle cookies are adorable and easy. They are buttery and chewy and make a delightful addition to any holiday cookie tray!

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy.

Add the sugar and seeds of the vanilla bean to the butter and take a minute to massage the vanilla into the sugar. Beat until pale yellow.

Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, scrape the bowl as needed.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the butter mixture and mix on the lowest speed until barely combined. Beat in the sprinkles.

Break the dough into 2 balls and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough on a well floured surface to 1/4” thickness. Use your favorite cookie cutters to cut shapes and place on a the cookie sheets. The cookies do not spread, so they can be placed close together. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Move to a rack.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before storing.

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So many cookie swaps, so little time! Today it’s the FB Cookie Swap from the lovely Julie of The Little Kitchen and Lindsey of Love and Olive Oil. After last year’s fun, I could resist doing it again! Instead of peppermint + chocolate, I went with another one of my favorite pairings chocolate + peanut butter.

I sent out some great cookies, no bragging intended. But they were really, really tasty! I had to make a double batch so I would have plenty to mail out plus enough to save for photographing when I was able to get some weekend sunlight. This time of year is brutally limited for natural light. I ate at least one of these cookies everyday for breakfast without fail, I couldn’t resist. These cookies have everything a traditional buckeye has plus a brownie base. To be fair, I know they sort of look like turds, but the inside is beautiful! I’m just going to call it like I see it…A crispy, fudgy bottom with a sweet, creamy peanut butter filling is hard to resist; add chocolate on top and I’m swooning! I’m glad I had so many cookies leftover for eating and sharing with local friends! I hope Ruthy of Omeletta, Susan of That Susan Williams, and Stephanie of Steph’s Bite by Bite enjoyed them as much as I did!

When you’re receiving a dozen cookies from three different bloggers PLUS eating leftover cookies in your own kitchen, it is best to share the bounty with coworkers. Surprisingly, not everyone was okay with eating cookies from strangers. The weird thing is, even though I don’t know anyone in the swap IRL, it does not seem strange and the bloggers seem familiar. Everyone is in their kitchen doing their thing and blogging about it just like me. I love that we are able to share are goodies with others. It’s the best we have until smells and tastes can be transmitted through the interwebs!I was super fortunate to receive an amazing selection of cookies! Mieke of Mieke Z Mackay sent lovely oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and nuts; salty sweet deliciousness! Amy of Club Narwhal sent delightfully dunk-able biscotti; chocolate and vanilla with cranberries and pistachios! Last, but not least, Tux of Brooklyn Homemaker sent some divine gingerbread linzer cookies with a white chocolate-orange ganache filling; I can’t wait until he posts the recipe so I can make another batch! A successful cookie swap for 2014, I can’t wait for 2015. As Lynn said, “I must be doing something right!”

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The last week has reeked havoc on my kitchen. Every night has a sink full of dishes and flour on the floor. But it’s all worth it because I can now bring you seven straight days of holiday cookies and treats. Holiday baking is my favorite time of year!

It’s always a struggle between old favorites and new recipes. My only limitations are the hours in the evening and Tupperware. Here is one new recipe inspired by the SRC Cookie Carnival.

A Cookie Carnival? How could I resist? The Secret Recipe Club did a holiday cookie post and I could not resist. I was assigned Karen from Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Her blog is lovely and features recipes she makes for her family. We have similar styles in that we both love to share recipes, slightly adapted, from cookbooks, blogs, and magazines. Blogging is fun hobby that allows us to share treats with others.

These cookies are gorgeous, easy, and super tasty! Their light green color is perfect for a Christmas cookie tray and I love the saltiness from the pistachios on the outside. The cookies have everything you want – crispy, crunchy, salty, sweet, and chocolate! The flavor is a subtle pistachio taste that is delightful!

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Cookies, cookies, cookies! They have been churning out my kitchen at a rapid pace. I finally made time to decide on recipes for my Christmas cookie plate and have started baking. It feels good! However, the flour all over the floor and never-ending sink-full of dishes does not feel so good. I’m really missing the dishwasher right about now.

Next week will be cookie week; six straight days of cookies that could adorn your holiday dessert table. After a fall of not blogging as much as I would like, I’m trying to make up for it in December. Clearly I have extra time without reading and writing about the conservation issues facing the world’s biomes.

These cookies are the result of trying to use up my hoarded stock of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. Whenever they are on sale, I tend to buy a few bags, but the drawer I keep them in is now over filling. In fact, due to a recent $2.99 sale on Ghiradelli chocolate chips, my stash is now kept in a grocery bag #BakerProblems.

I’m beginning to adore shortbread cookies. They are crisp and almost melt in your mouth with a touch of sweetness. The initial plainness lends itself well to adding any and every flavor. Look out for some more shortbread cookies coming your way, they are an easy and delightful way to add variety to the Christmas cookie line up!

Preheat to oven to 350 ˚F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Add the butter and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from inside, add to the butter. Beat until pale yellow and then beat in the powdered sugar until well combined.

Add the flour and mix until just combined. The dough will appear crumbly, but stays together if your squeeze it into a ball.

Flour your surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough to 1/4” thick and cut into circles.

Place the circles on the lined cookie tray. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the cookies just begin to brown.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before dipping.

Melt the peanut butter chips and 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a double boiler. Dip part of each cookie into the mixture and place on a wire rack. Refrigerate the wire rack and cookies to speed up the hardening process.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips with the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil. Dip the cookies and allow to harden on a wire rack.